Scholarship Highlights CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Michael Vera is a civil engineering student and currently works as an engineering intern for the NYC School Construction Authority and as a tutor at CCNY. He recently participated in research in Japan pertaining to the structural stability of buildings during earthwork loads. He intends on obtaining a master’s degree in structural engineering and his P.E. license. Taylor Malangone is a senior civil engineering student and a member of various student chapters including ASCE, and was recently inducted into the Chi Epsilon Honor Society. She recently interned with AECOM’s geotechnical group, and plans to pursue a master’s degree and career in geotechnical engineering. Rachel White is a civil engineering student and is actively involved with many clubs and honor societies on campus including ASCE, DFI, Concrete Canoe and Chi Epsilon. After graduating in May 2020, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in engineering. Merjan scholarship recipients at the 2019 Trust Annual Gala from left to right: Michael Vera, Imam Mihan, Alison Richard and Jeffrey Liu. Tamaro Scholarship Recipients Four Manhattan College students received awards from the George J. Tamaro Manhattan College Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund. Cara Cao is a senior undergraduate student majoring in civil engineering and is president of the DFI Student Chapter at Manhattan College. She recently participated in a research paper that has been accepted for presentation at the Transportation Research Board (TRB). After graduating, she will be pursuing her master’s degree in geotechnical engineering. Michael LaValle is a senior majoring in civil engineering. He recently completed an internship with JF Shea Construction. He is the current president of the Manhattan College ASCE Student Chapter and is involved in Concrete Canoe, DFI and NYWEA. Upon graduation, he plans to work in the tunneling field. 4 | ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship School-Specific Awards at University of Illinois, Auburn University, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Houston The recipients of the Charles J. Berkel Memorial Scholarship at the University of Illinois were David Kiepic, Kayla O’Sullivan and Elisabeth Tarpey. The recipients at Auburn University were Garrett Smith, Sarah Bacon, Robert Miles, Nicole Reed, Brooke Earls, Kelly Turner, Jared Allen, Megan Foshee, Jacob DeBusk and Christy Manning. The recipients at the University of California at Berkeley were Emily Wong, Colin Leung, Mark Young and Mohammadrezza Bayat. The recipients at the University of Houston were Ahsman Bhusal, Leonid Prilepskiy, Moises Perez-Cruz, Sergio Gonzalez Miramon, Shehzaib Siddiqui and Elizabeth Walker. The scholarship is named in memory of Charles J. Berkel, chairman of the board of Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc., and a graduate of the University of Illinois. Berkel generously committed $1 million to the DFI Educational Trust to create this scholarship endowment fund. Larry P. Rayburn Scholarship Recipients The recipients of the Larry P. Rayburn/ University of Cincinnati Civil Engineering Scholarship are Jacob Nicewaner, Trent Phillips and Sam Carper. Congratulations to the 5 WiDF Grant Recipients The DFI Educational Trust awarded five Women in Deep Foundations (WiDF) Professional Development Grants of $1,750 each to women working in the deep foundations industry to attend DFI’s 44th Annual Conference in Chicago, October 14-18. The grant includes free conference registration and covers related expenses for attending the conference. Congratulations to the recipients: Tugce Baser, Ph.D., assistant professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Sayantani Ghosh, EIT, senior staff engineer, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc. Amanda Parry, geotechnical engineer, GEI Consultants, Inc. (former Educational Trust Scholarship recipient) Sherry Pirzadeh, P.E., design engineer, Menard Group USA Adeleine Tran, P.E., geotechnical engineer, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
